There is an extreme shortage of nurses in “bush” Alaska, a stunningly beautiful part of the world only reachable by plane or barge. Maria DeValpine (James Madison University)has spent the last three years learning why nurses elect to stay in this challenging environment on the edge of the earth. And: Courses that include service learning projects can have a profound effect on the relationships students have with their communities. While at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, James Curiel (Norfolk State University) had his students, who were predominately from the wealthiest Egyptian families, work with members from the most impoverished families in that society who were illiterate and made their living by recycling materials from the rubbish they collected. The lessons learned were invaluable. Later in the show: In spite of the current state of the economy, the next 25 years will see an unprecedented rise in human wellbeing. That’s the argument Philip Auerswald (George Mason University) makes in his book The Coming Prosperity. He argues that four centuries of technological change are spreading prosperity to new populations in the world and that this transformation will create large-scale opportunities in both rich and poor nations. Also featured: We spend billions each year on foreign aid. Sometimes it works, but often it is ineffective and may even cause resentment on the part of countries we are trying to help.Michael Gubser (James Madison University)talks about the importance of history in international development. He says solutions that work in one country often get airlifted to another country that has a very different social and cultural history.
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